Man arrested over theft of car with baby inside

POLICE have arrested a 27-year-old Belconnen man following the theft of a silver Mazda with a seven-month-old baby boy inside yesterday afternoon.

Officers caught the man last night after he allegedly entered a pharmacy, threatening staff with a knife before escaping with cash and drugs.

At about 8.25pm police were notified of a suspicious white coloured Mazda in the Weetangera area.

After a brief pursuit police stopped the vehicle in Mayo Street, Weetangera where they arrested a 27-year-old man, later identified as the same person that had stolen the silver 1999 Mazda 323 Protégé earlier in the day.

A woman, the driver of the Mazda, had gone to the assistance of a man whose car had broken down at about 2pm yesterday. The man then jumped into the woman’s car and took off, with her seven-month-old baby boy inside.

About 3.45pm, a member of the public located the silver Mazda, which had sustained damage, in the driveway of their residence in Palmerston when they returned home and reported it to police immediately.

The baby was located safe and well on the porch of the residence and reunited with his parents a short time later.

The man will face the ACT Magistrate’s Court today where police will oppose bail.